POKROVKA, near St. Petersburg. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Powers of environmental control in Russia are divided among too many agencies, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, expressing hope this practice would end "very soon."

Environmental control in the country "is split up among various agencies, and this harms both the controlling authorities themselves and those they check because some have gone away and others have come in but the same questions are asked," Medvedev told a conference in Pokrovka.

"Let's set ourselves the target of putting matters right very soon," he said.